John Linehan: ‘I wore tails rather than a dress when I got my MBE … I didn’t want to run the risk of stealing the Queen’s thunder’

John Linehan: ‘I wore tails rather than a dress when I got my MBE … I didn’t want to run the risk of stealing the Queen’s thunder’ BelfastTelegraph.co.uk He’s been shot at, blown up, fallen from a star and almost died from meningitis, but John Linehan’s alter-ego May McFettridge – Northern Ireland’s most famous ‘oul doll’ – keeps him going. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/john-linehan-i-wore-tails-rather-than-a-dress-when-i-got-my-mbe-i-didnt-want-to-run-the-risk-of-stealing-the-queens-thunder-37503583.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/weekend/article37503577.ece/06866/AUTOCROP/h342/2018-11-10_lif_45554821_I2.JPG Email He’s been shot at, blown up, fallen from a star and almost died from meningitis, but John Linehan’s alter-ego May McFettridge – Northern Ireland’s most famous ‘oul doll’ – keeps him going. There’s a picture in his home of Eamonn Holmes and May on the steps of Downtown Radio, where it all began. May was born after Eamonn, John’s wife’s cousin, asked him onto a show. He appeared pretending to be an opinionated Belfast woman in her “late, late 40s”. That was 35 years ago and the north Belfast man, who celebrated his 67th birthday this week, wouldn’t change a single thing. Later this month he will take to the stage at Belfast’s Crowne Plaza hotel to entertain at the Belfast Telegraph Property Awards. “I honestly didn’t think I’d still be doing this three decades later,” he says. “I first went on with Eamonn in August 1987, so May is going 35 years. I thought it would only have lasted a couple of months. “Eamonn said to me that if I nurtured the character and worked hard, I could make a lifetime job out of it. I… [Read full story]